CEO of GAW Corp and GAW Miners Josh Garza will not be barred from speaking at the key TNABC conference, scheduled to be held in Miami January 16-18. 

“Josh Garza will have an opportunity to speak, and attendees will have an opportunity to respond”, said conference founder Moe Levin. The news comes in the midst of the Paycoin controversy that CoinTelegrah covered Friday.

“The community’s response to this issue has developed rapidly over the last few days,” said Moe Levin. “The organizers of the North American Bitcoin Conference remain committed to maintaining a policy of transparency and neutrality in controversial issues.”

Levin’s full announcement reads as follows:

“Our role is not to encourage witch hunts. Our role is not to promote scams. Our role has always been, and will always be, to provide a public forum for intelligent, productive discourse on the issues that matter to the community, however controversial. We intend to provide that public forum next week at the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami.

We have heard from multitudes of Paycoin supporters, just as we have heard from its detractors.

Troublingly, though, we have heard from those – on both sides of the issue – who wish to suppress the open discourse of next week’s forum. They have demanded either that Josh Garza be prohibited from speaking, or that the public be prohibited from responding.  These people believe that the public will be somehow duped or entranced by the words of those who disagree with them.

Worse, they believe that the North American Bitcoin Conference itself is somehow corrupted by the participation of the other side, that it is somehow less valuable because of it. They believe that only the side they have chosen should be heard – that only their side should be permitted a forum to speak. 

In short, they believe that the North American Bitcoin Conference should become an echo chamber.

That would be unproductive, and it would be unfair to those who will travel thousands of miles to attend. We believe that the value of a forum is not diminished by the participation of different perspectives, the provision of new facts, and the exposition of controversial positions. To the contrary, we believe the value of the conference will be greatly amplified by it.

To that end, Josh Garza will have an opportunity to speak, and attendees will have an opportunity to respond.”

Finally, Levin concluded that:

“We will not censor this conference. We ask that you do not censor yourselves. We look forward to seeing you all next week.”

Back in November, Garza and some other GAW team members held discussions where a US$20 price floor for Paycoin (which currently sits at US$3.72 at the time of writing) was proposed but no “guaranteed” via Google Hangouts Q&A session to address curated questions from the community.

OKCoin’s CEO Star Xu also expected

In other related news, OKCoin, the Beijing based digital currency exchange, announced on January 8 that its CEO, Star Xu, will be making his first speech on US soil at The North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami on January 17. 

Star will cover the topic of “The Future of Bitcoin” while also addressing the role of OKcoin as one of the fastest growing exchange platforms offering USD spot exchange and the recently introduced trading tools in an effort to become the market leader.

“Speaking at the conference will offer a unique opportunity to connect with other relevant players in the Bitcoin market,” Star affirms.

An OKCoin spokesperson also added that “BItcoin is global and so is OKCoin. Having Star as a speaker reiterates our internationalization goals even further.”

Roger Ver Locked Out of his Native US, TNABC

Meanwhile, Bitcoin angel investor, Roger Ver, has been denied entry to the US as his non-immigrant visa request was rejected for the third time.

Despite giving up his US citizenship in 2014, Ver was expected to speak at TNABC next week. The reason put forth by the American embassy in Barbados was that there is not enough evidence to suggest that Ver would leave the US following the event.

Ver told CoinDesk that despite having his application rejected numerous times already, officials have refused to review his documentation and other evidence he provided to support his request.

In response, Ver tweeted the following:

TNABC Miami, the Place to Be

The North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami comes at a crucial time. In the last six months the currency has experienced both the good and bad sides of the limelight: whilst it has dramatically increased in visibility and gained a rising acceptance with vendors and shoppers, there has been more regulatory scrutiny and wild fluctuations in value.

It’s at this time, more than ever before, that the Bitcoin community is needed to ensure a prosperous and well-balanced future for the currency and technology. TNABC Miami, an event that has grown from 100 attendees in 2012 to over 2,000 visitors from 40 countries in 2014, is certainly shaping up to be a monumental event for anyone interested in Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and the evolution of money.

Moreover, due to the large number of expected attendees, conference organizers have also set up a dedicated Bitcoin travel agent Traveling Coin to make your travel arrangements easier.

Call Toll Free: +1(844) 244-9869 or +1(407) 398-0845 to arrange your transport at a discount.

You will receive a dedicated travel specialist who can arrange everything from your flight, ground transportation, accommodations, tours, and much more.

Additionally, 12 new speakers have been added to the list of participants including an Australian Senator, COO of Bitstamp, Co-Founder of Blocksteam, 3 Bitcoin Core Developers, the former head of the CFTC, and more.

For more information and tickets, go to the official event page here (you will also receive a 10% discount by paying in BTC).

You can also view the full updated agenda here. 

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